Resolution no. 22822

Order, pursuant to article 7-octies, paragraph 1, letter b) of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 ("Consolidated Law on Finance”) to cease the breach of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance committed via the https://fintechmarket-consulting.com website and its page https://cfd.fintechmarket-consulting.com

LA COMMISSIONE NAZIONALE PER LE SOCIETÀ E LA BORSA
[THE NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR COMPANIES AND THE STOCK EXCHANGE]

HAVING REGARD to Law no. 216 of 7 June 1974, as subsequently amended and supplemented;

HAVING REGARD to Legislative Decree no. 58 of 24 February 1998 ("Consolidated Law on Finance”), as subsequently amended and supplemented;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that, from checks on the web, it emerged that:

1. the website https://fintechmarket-consulting.com - which is active and also available in Italian - gives potential investors the possibility of trading financial contracts on currencies and cryptocurrencies via a "Fintech Market” trading platform, defined on the website as a "trustworthy CFD provider”;
2. in order to place such trades, users must register with the website at the URL https://cfd.fintechmarket-consulting.com, through a process that is also available to Italian users, and then open a trading account and to deposit the necessary funds. Specifically, the website advertises the features of trading accounts with "fixed”, "variable” and "raw” spreads; the same section also makes reference to "VIP Accounts” with a dedicated "account manager”. After registration, a dashboard is displayed, available in Italian, where users can access, among other things, a trading platform, available in Italian, where it is possible to trade financial contracts on currencies and cryptocurrencies;
3. as to the traceability of the website https://fintechmarket-consulting.com, generic reference is made to "Fintech Market” with reported registered address in Austria;

HAVING REGARD to resolution no. 22655 of 29 March 2023, whereby the order was given to the above-mentioned Fintech Market to cease the breach of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate www.fintechmarket.pro website and its page https://cfd.fintechmarket.pro;

HAVING REGARD to resolution no. 22711 of 24 May 2023, whereby the said "Fintech Market” was ordered to cease its breach of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted via the separate www.fintechmarket.consulting website and its page https://cfd.fintechmarket.consulting;

WHEREAS in addition to using a domain that is similar to the domain of the aforementioned websites www.fintechmarket.pro and www.fintechmarket.consulting, the www.fintechmarket.consulting.com website replicates the content and graphic format of the former ones;

WHEREAS the activity carried out via the website https://fintechmarket-consulting.com and its page https://cfd.fintechmarket-consulting.com is to be considered as provision of investment services, as referred to in article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, insofar as users are offered the opportunity, through the aforementioned domains, to open a trading account and place orders to buy and/or sell financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, which is carried out via the https://fintechmarket-consulting.com website and the page https://cfd.fintechmarket-consulting.com is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, insofar as said Internet domains are available in Italian and no mechanism was found to block registration by users attempting to register with the website from Italy using Italian IP addresses. In addition, complaints were received from Italian individuals who reported that they were unable to recover the sums paid for trading activities, according to information received from parties acting on behalf of Fintech Market;

WHEREAS the above domains cannot be attributed to an entity which is authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as the company "Fintech Market”, as mentioned on the above website, is not listed in the register maintained by Consob pursuant to article 20 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING REGARD to the fact that the provision of investment services and activities is reserved to licensed parties as referred to under article 18, paragraph 1, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, pursuant to which, "The professional provision of investment services and activities to the public is reserved to Italian investment firms, EU investment firms, Italian banks, EU banks and non-EU firms”;

HAVING ESTABLISHED, therefore, that the operations in question qualify as the professional provision of investment services to the Italian public, in breach of article 18, paragraph 1 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING REGARD to the fact that, according to the provisions of article 7-octies, letter b) of the Consolidated Law on Finance - "Powers to counteract unauthorised provision of investment services” - Consob "may, with regard to anyone who offers or carries out investment services or activities over the Internet without being qualified to do so pursuant to this decree: […] b) order the cessation of the breach”;

CONSIDERING it therefore necessary, in the light of the foregoing, to adopt this Resolution immediately for reasons of urgency;

RESOLVES

To order the cessation of the breach of article 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98, carried out via the https://fintechmarket-consulting.com website and its page https://cfd.fintechmarket-consulting.com, consisting in offering and providing investment services and activities to the Italian public.

This Resolution shall be brought to the attention of the concerned parties and published in the Consob Bulletin.

This measure may be appealed before the Regional Administrative Court of Lazio within 60 days of the date of service.

27 September 2023

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona